


Learning

by Izzybutt



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Facial Shaving, Gen, Genderbending, Shaving, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27763045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izzybutt/pseuds/Izzybutt
Summary: 'I find humans far more complicated than I first imagined. On the surface, they seem fairly simple, but there are certain complexities to them that have taken me some time to grasp. Thankfully, I have two that are willing to help me through this endeavour.'AKA Castiel learns to shave.
Relationships: Castiel & Sam Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
Kudos: 6





	Learning

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in 2011 and realized I'd never posted it. Takes place sometime around when Cas effectively became human and was learning how to live like one. And Dean is genderbent in this version because it was a kick I was on at the time, and why not. Enjoy.

I find humans far more complicated than I first imagined. On the surface, they seem fairly simple, but there are certain complexities to them that have taken me some time to grasp. Thankfully, I have two that are willing to help me through this endeavour. I am very grateful for them. 

Through them, I learn quickly that, though I have observed for millennia, observing humans and being one are two very different things. 

On my first days, I learn that eating and sleeping, as well as some other activities are mandatory for humans. At first, none of these seem very pleasant, especially the nonsense with the ‘Porcelain God’ that Deana refers to. There is nothing Godlike about it. 

I find that sleeping is not wholly unpleasant, but being woken up by my other needs, or even by other people, is rather unpleasant. Especially unpleasant once I learn how to dream. I do like dreaming. Sam claims that it is a normal thing for humans to do, but Deana expresses that what I have done is gross. 

“Dude, seriously? This is like, the fourth time this week.” She scowls, disappearing into the bathroom. 

“Dee, come on, he can’t help it.” Sam calls after her. 

“Oh, don’t you defend him!” She tosses a towel out, hitting Sam in the shoulder, and he tosses it over to me, far gentler than his sister this morning. “I had to go through that shit with you already! I don’t need to deal with it again!” 

When she comes out of the bathroom, her hair is up in a ponytail again, and she has changed her clothes. “I’m going for breakfast. You.” She points at me. “Shower. Now.” When she jerks her thumb over her shoulder, I nod, and head towards the bathroom to clean up again. Deana says something to Sam about my beard, but I miss what she says as I shut the door and turn on the water. 

Later, once I have washed, and my sheets have been thrown in the laundry, Sam approaches me with some sort of plastic device. “You ever use one of these before?”

I shake my head, and he sighs. Apparently that is not the answer he wished to hear. 

“Okay, well, this is a razor. People use them to shave.”

“I am aware of its purpose.” I reply. Sam just gives me a tight-lipped smile, and nods. He appears to be biting his tongue. I am not sure why. 

“Just… take it. Here.” Sam hands it over, and I turn it in my hand to look at it. “Don’t. Do. Anything.” He emphasizes before he goes back to his bed, to dig around in his bag. He comes back with a can of something, and a small glass bottle, then leads me into the bathroom. I am apparently not standing in the right spot, though, because after he sets the items in his hands down on the sink, he puts his hands on my shoulders and moves me to in front of the mirror. “Today you’re gonna learn to shave, Castiel.”

“Alright.” I nod, awaiting his instructions. I trust Sam and his guidance. Not as much as I trust Deana, of course, but she claims that there are things that only Sam can teach me, since the two of us are both males. He was reluctant at first, but he is still a good teacher. 

“Okay, so your face is still kinda wet from the shower, so we don’t need to do anything there.” He begins. “But normally, you wash your face first.”

I nod, signifying that I understand. 

“So then – here, hold out your hands – then you get some of this on your hands.” He squirts some white foamy substance into my outstretched palms. It feels strange. “Now, put that on your beard.”

I look at him, perplexed for a moment, but at his nod I obey. Slowly, carefully, I lather my beard up with the foam, until I look like the large man in the red suit at the mall. 

“Good.” Sam nods, putting some of the foam on his own hands, touching up the areas I seemed to have missed. “Not bad for your first try.”

“Are we done?” I ask, and I spit when the action makes some of the foam slide down onto my lip. 

“No, not yet.” He laughs, and takes a cloth to help me wipe off my mouth. “Now you take your razor, and slowly scrape it down where you’ve got the shaving cream.” 

I give him another unsure look, but Sam seems to know what he is doing, and so I follow his instructions. The cold metal of the razor against my cheek makes me wince, but I slide it down, wincing when it gets somewhere near my chin. 

“It hurts.” I tell him. 

“Yeah, not so hard.” He examines where I have scraped away shaving cream and hair, and left little droplets of blood in their wake. “Just do it gently, okay? Keep going.” He rinses off the razor with a blast of water from the sink, and then hands it back to me.

I try again, more gently this time, and to greater success. I look at him for further instructions, and he nods, giving me a gesture that implies I should keep going. I do, rinsing off the blade with every stroke, at Sam’s prompting. 

I get the bulk of the hair and cream off of my face, but eventually Sam takes over, to shave the area under my nose, and my neck. He claims that needing a little help my first time is nothing to be ashamed of. That’s good, because I honestly don’t know what there would be to be ashamed of.

“Alright, so now just wash your face again.” He instructs, but tugs me back when I make for the shower, gesturing towards the sink instead. It is a little harder, rinsing my face when I am bent over at such an odd angle, but I manage to wash the rest of the cream off. The water is cold, and I don’t like it, but Sam insists that it has to be cold. He is right there with a warm towel, gently pressing it against my face when I am done. 

“Now pat dry, don’t rub, pat. Got that?”

“I got.” I nod, taking the towel from him to finish it myself, looking at my reflection now. I do agree that I prefer my vessel without a beard. Body, now, instead of vessel, I suppose. 

I sometimes wonder what has become of Jimmy, my vessel. Is there room for two humans in one body? 

“Cas. Cas. Cas.” Sam is poking my arm. Apparently I have drifted off again. It was easier to think deeply about things when I was an angel. I still was fairly omnipresent, and able to pay attention to others. I don’t know how humans do this. 

“Sorry.” I apologize. “I was… thinking.” Sam looks at me, as if expecting me to finish a sentence, but I have already finished it. There is nothing more to say. 

“Um… okay.” He holds the glass bottle out again, and this time I notice it. “I said ‘Smell this, tell me what you think’.” 

I sniff it. “It smells revolting.” I reply. Sam looks like he’s biting at his tongue again. Maybe he’s hungry. 

“Okay, well, we’ll find one for you that doesn’t… smell revolting, but for now, it’s all we’ve got.” He replies, and starts slapping my face with the foul liquid.

“This is aftershave. You put it on after you shave.” 

“It burns.” I shut my eyes and take a deep breath. It feels like my cheeks are on fire. 

“Yeah, it’ll do that. Give it time. You’ll get used to it.” Sam promises, and then he picks up the can and the bottle and the razor, and leaves me alone in the bathroom. 

I take some time to look at myself in the mirror again. Yes, I prefer this body without the beard.

“Sam?” I call out. 

“Yeah?”

“How often do I have to do this? Shave?” I ask. 

“Every day.”

I freeze, and feel at my cheek. Every day? That seems excessive. 

“Are you sure?” I call out again. 

“What?” Sam comes back into the bathroom. 

“Are you sure?” I repeat.

“About shaving every day?” He smirks. “Yeah, pretty sure, Cas.” He nods. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it. Every guy’s gotta go through it. Just… most usually learn it earlier than this.” He chuckles, and heads back into his room to finish packing. I believe Deana said something about strange deaths in Illinois, so I assume that is where we are headed next. 

Thinking about Deana causes more questions to pop into my head. 

“Sam?” I ask, stepping out of the bathroom so that we may converse more clearly. 

“Yeah?” He looks up from his duffel. 

“Does Deana shave as well?” 

Sam pauses for a moment, snickering almost. “Not like that – not her face, no, but yeah, she shaves other places.”

“Other places than the bathroom?”

“Other places like her legs, and under her arms, Cas.” Sam explains. “Girls shave there, guys shave their faces.”

“Why?”

“… Just get packed, Cas. I’m starving, and I wanna go already, okay?” Sam shakes his head, and goes back into the bathroom to retrieve his shampoo.  
We meet Deana for breakfast, and then the three of us drive to Illinois. Deana says nothing about my newly-shaven face, save to imply that I angered a pair of hedge clippers. I don’t understand what she means. 

The ghost is fairly easy for them to vanquish, and the sun has barely set by the time we get to a motel. Though I did little work, I find I am very tired, and Sam offers to make up the couch for me. I pass out at some point on his bed, waiting for him to finish, and he doesn’t bother to wake me, choosing to simply take the couch for himself. It is very kind of him. 

When I wake, it is to a buzzing sound on the bed across from me. Slowly, I open my eyes, and I see Deana there, with some sort of device rubbing up and down her legs. 

“Deana?” I mumble, sleepily. 

“Mornin’.” She greets, switching legs, moving the little blue and white box up and down this one instead. “Sam went to get breakfast, said he’d bring you back a burrito, and then we can hit the road again. Got something in Philadelphia.” 

“What are you doing?” I ask, after watching her for a while. 

“Shaving.” She replies. “What’s it look like?”

“I’m not sure.” I admit, sitting up. “Sam taught me a very different method, evidently.” 

She snorts, and nods. “Yeah, kinda different, but probably works just as well.” She looks over at me, and beckons me over to her bed. “Wanna feel it?” 

I nod, tentatively, and untangle myself from my blankets before I move to sit beside her. 

“Kay, hold still.” She orders me, and then I feel the buzz of the device against my cheek. “How’s that feel?” 

“…strange.” I admit, after some contemplation. “I think I prefer Sam’s method.” She snorts again, and shakes her head. 

“Yeah, well, go do Sam’s method then, and get washed up and dressed. Wanna be on the road in an hour.” She goes back to shaving, finishing up on the work I’d interrupted. 

I pause for a moment, and then reach out to touch her bare leg. She pauses, looking at me, but does nothing to stop me from gently feeling her smooth, bare calf. The device clicks off, and I look up at her. 

“I think… I think your method has some merits.”

Her cheeks turn pink, and she snorts again. “Just go get dressed.” I move before she can strike at me with her pillow.


End file.
